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Tax-free access to Europe walks a tightrope

According to an article by Tralac, an EU lawmaker recently warned that should some African countries fail to sign a deal to replace preferential agreement, which the World Trade Organisation has rejected,they could lose tax-free access for exports to the EU. The EU and ACP countries had until the end of 2007 to sign the EPA to replace existing unilateral trade preferences, or risk disrupting European trade. Since then the EU’s talks with most of the countries have dragged on longer than planned as activists in Europe argued that the availability of more African products would hurt Europe’s farming and manufacturing sectors. Vital Moreira, chairman of the EU Parliament’s International Trade (INTA) Committee, said the EU Commission planned to change its Market Access Regulation, which if passed, would remove preferential access after January 2014 for any country that failed to ratify the EPA by the end of 2013.